Pierre Karl Péladeau, former head of the media chain that includes Sun Media, urges Quebecers to “take control of our own destiny.”

Then-Quebecor chief executive Pierre Karl Peladeau speaks to reporters after appearing at the Canadian Radio and Television Commission hearings in Montreal in 2012. He'll now run for the separatist Parti Quebecois.

Pierre Karl Péladeau, a Canadian media industry titan whose Quebecor Inc. conglomerate draws audiences and readers from the Pacific through the Prairies to la belle province where it dominates most, has come out in full-throated support of Quebec sovereignty. The 52-year-old announced Sunday that he will run for office as a member of the Parti Québécois.

“Today, we have the tools to take control of our own destiny,” said Péladeau before a cheering partisan crowd in St. Jerome, northwest of Montreal, where he will vie for votes in the provincial election April 7.

“My devotion to the Parti Québécois is a devotion that rises from my most intimate values — that is to say: To make Quebec a country,” he proclaimed, raising his fist as roars rang out.

A divisive character of great renown in Quebec, Péladeau’s entry into politics was rumoured for weeks, despite firm denials from the media baron that he intended to do so. Now that he has, the province’s political scene has been shaken up, with competing choruses of approval and denunciation following his candidacy announcement.

The FTQ, one of the province’s biggest unions, released a statement of “astonishment” at Péladeau’s candidacy for the PQ, calling him “one of the worst employers Quebec has ever known.”

Françoise David, co-leader of the left-leaning separatist Québec Solidaire, also took a shot at the PQ for welcoming Péladeau into its fold. “Never will a member of Québec Solidaire sit next to Pierre Karl Péladeau,” in the rows of the National Assembly, she told reporters Sunday.

The PQ has been openly courting QS supporters with their secularism charter, and there has even been talk of a possible coalition. No chance of that anymore, said David.

Meanwhile, former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe was among those applauding Péladeau. “Sovereignty isn’t left, nor is it right. It’s ahead. Congratulations to Mr. Péladeau for his decision,” he wrote on Twitter.

Often referred to simply by his initials, PKP, the former philosophy major is a veritable celebrity in Quebec. His recent split from Julie Snyder, a famous TV producer behind Quebec’s American Idol-style shows Star Académie and La Voix, has been tabloid fodder for weeks. Péladeau referenced the separation Sunday, telling reporters he didn’t decide to run until he had Snyder’s “full support.”

After his father died in 1997, Péladeau inherited the family company and went to work crafting a juggernaut that looms especially large on the Quebec media landscape. Among Quebecor’s prized properties are some of francophone Canada’s most popular news sources, such as cable network LCN, the Journal de Montréal and the Journal de Québec. The company also controls TVA, a string of magazines and publishing firms, and — in an ironic twist given his freshly touted separatist leanings — the Sun Media newspapers and Sun News network, the latter a bastion of red meat conservative populism in English Canada.

He said his move to politics won’t affect Quebecor, insisting the editorial stances of its media branches are “completely independent” from any management dynamics.

The move to join the PQ may be intended to bolster the party’s projected prowess on the economic file. The Liberal party of Philippe Couillard and François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Quebec have so far placed their bets on voter interest in job creation and fiscal responsibility.

In his speech Sunday, Péladeau said working to improve Quebec’s economy was a prime reason for his decision to run.

He also took to Radio-Canada for an interview Sunday evening, where he touted his business credentials as the main quality he can bring to the PQ.

“In an era when the world economy is marked by a competitiveness unrivalled in modern history, where our fiscal balance is largely in deficit, there are no easy solutions,” said Péladeau, standing with Marois for the St. Jerome announcement. “But it’s certain that we need to be audacious so Quebecers come out as winners.”

Couillard, from his end, said Sunday afternoon that Péladeau’s entry reinforces his notion that the “ballot question” of the election will be the economy. And that’s a good thing for Liberals, he told reporters.

“It’s clear. If you want to vote for the economy, for health,” he said, “vote for the Liberal team.”

Yet Péladeau is also inextricably tied to Quebecor’s bid to build a new arena and bring NHL hockey back to Quebec City, a national project of sorts in the eyes of some Quebecers. Péladeau’s expressed confidence in the city’s bid for a hockey franchise was one of the bigger applause lines of his Sunday press conference.

Speaking earlier, the CAQ’s Legault, a former PQ minister, said he believes Péladeau will be “disappointed” to find that economic matters take a back seat to the pursuit of sovereignty for the Péquistes.

But that didn’t seem to be a problem for Péladeau Sunday. “I’m engaging with the Parti Québécois because I have extremely profound convictions to make Quebec a country,” he said.

“I want my kids to inherit a country they can be proud of.”

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